Latest / Your Daily Portion with L. David Harris / 04 19 2024 Be Vigilant

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04 19 2024 Be Vigilant · Your Daily Portion with L. David Harris

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  Most of us eat every day, some of us too much because yesterday's food
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  is not enough to supply energy for today's needs. Why then, do some
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  of us expect yesterday's portion of heavenly manna, the word of God to keep
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  us through today's challenges. On this program, we are going to change all
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  of that. Let's experience God's words today and receive the power we need to
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  live healthy, vibrant lives. Welcome to Your Daily Portion with your host,
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  author speaker, Elle David Harris. Good morning, Good morning, Good morning.
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  It is Friday, April nineteen, twenty twenty four. Hello, my
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  name is Elle David Harris. I am your host, and this is your
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  Daily Portion where we give you God's word every single day, and today is
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  no exception. We aren't continuing in our Lesson study series the Great Controversy,
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  and our caption for today is be Vigilant. Be Vigilant. We'll get into
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  that in just a moment, but first I'd like to just say happy Happy
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  Preparation Day and ask you to please go over to your Daily Portion dot com.
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  Please join our online community, pick up your Daily Portion book. Let
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  us also know where you are in the world. This is one of the
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  ways that we continue to build faith and fellowship. I need to actually look
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  at the map now and see how many more places you are coming in from,
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  because our son and I have not been able to do it recently.
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  So we're gonna go ahead and take that back up and see where are God's
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  people in the world while you are listening and watching and sharing the great news
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  of Jesus Christ. Now, let's go ahead and pray, and then we
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  will get underway. Father in Heaven, thank you for giving us this new
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  day and for the privilege you have entrusted to us for us to focus on
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  you. Please, Lord, give us holiness today. Help us to be
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  aware, aware of your protection and your presence, and also be ready and
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  vigilant to do your will against all odds. In Jesus' name, I pray,
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  amen, and amen again, be vigilant, y'all, be vigilant.
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  So what we're going to do now is read from the book Great Controversy.
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  The Great Controversy, pages fifty six and fifty seven, and it reads the
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  same spirit of hatred and opposition to the truth has inspired the enemies of God
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  in every age. So I just want to begin here and say that the
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  devil has not really changed how he does what he does, like a leopard
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  cannot change its spots. And yes, you can see that there is different
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  and more crafty methods, but the fact is that the human heart is the
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  same as it's always been, and so you can predictably know that the enemy
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  is going to take pot shots in the same ways. Yes, we have
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  new technologies, Yes there are new styles of temptation, but really and truly,
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  lust of the flesh is always it has always been the lust of the
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  flesh. The lust of the eyes have always been the lust of the eyes.
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  The pride of life has always been the pride of life, no matter
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  what era we live in what era we live, And so the hatred and
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  opposition to the truth is also the same. Because God has truth as a
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  focal point. The devil is the father of lies, so of course there
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  is an antagonism for the enemy toward God. And also there's no place found
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  for the devil again in heaven, and so he's going to do all that
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  he needs to do to get people on the side of lies and error and
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  hatred and fear, when God is all about truth and holiness, love,
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  eternal life, with him, as you can understand here. Let me continue
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  the quote, and the same vigilance and fidelity have been required in God's servants.
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  The words of Christ to the first disciples are applicable to his followers to
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  the close of time. Are we not brothers and sisters living at the end
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  of time? You see? So if Christ gave his disciples some truths and
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  principles and guidelines, and he is saying through inspiration here that we can follow
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  and must follow these to the end of time, then we need to follow
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  here. It is what I say unto you, I say unto all.
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  Watch. And that's from the Book of Mark, chapter thirteen and verse thirty
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  seven. You're like, Okay, is that it Yes, that's the end
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  of the quote right now, but what does that even mean? Watch?
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  Listen, there are people who have been in the military, and you have
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  been on watch, people who have been security officers and police officers. You
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  have been standing guard or watching for crimes that may happen, and you are
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  there to make sure that they don't happen if possible. You see, the
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  worst case scenario is not supposed to happen under your what watch? When Josiah
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  our Son was a little bitty guy, and he was able to creep and
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  crawl, and then he was a toddler and he was able to get up
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  and bounce and do whatever it is that he liked to do at that age.
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  Yeah, I saw myself as the safety mechanism. So we didn't put
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  the little things in the plugs right to keep him from sticking stuff in the
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  plug, because my thing is I'm daddy, that is that is my priority.
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  I didn't put the little bumpers on the edge of tables and all of
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  that kind of a thing because I'm daddy and that is my priority. You
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  see, I was with him all the time, and so I needed to
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  make sure that I was watchful and vigilant. Why because the priority for me
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  was to keep Josiah safe. So in the last days, what is your
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  priority in terms of your relationship with God? Yes, the truth is God's
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  word, The truth is Jesus Christ. The truth is his holy ten Commandments
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  law. And so when we are being watchful and vigilant, that means that
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  whatever it takes to be holy, that is our priority. Whatever it takes
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  to be on the same page with God, that is our priority. You
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  see, whatever it takes to lead other people into a right relationship with God.
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  That brothers and sisters is our priority. And so here are some action
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  items, some action items that will assist us along this journey of spiritual I'll
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  call it vigilance. And so in the Book of First Thessalonians, chapter five
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  and verse twenty one, the Bible reads, but examine all things, hold
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  fast to that which is good. Yes, so there are people who teach
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  all kinds of things from the Bible, and or at least they purport that
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  it's from the Bible. And so what God is saying here is that we
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  need to be clear that while we are studying the Bible, we need to
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  let the Bible interpret itself, and we understand based on the power of the
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  Holy Spirit, what is actually there, What is actually there? There is
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  context, There is historical context, There is immediate context. And to whom
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  was God speaking when he had his pen men penning these words in scripture,
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  when he was inspiring them. And so with all of those things taken into
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  account, and now how these things apply to my salvation. We examine all
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  things and hold fast to that which is good. And that means we're not
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  going to allow anyone to mix up what the scriptures is teaching us, but
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  to hold fast to what God is teaching. Also in tewod Peter, chapter
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  one and verse twenty, the Bible reads, knowing this first, that no
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  prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. And so what we need
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  to do is educate ourselves and others about what God is actually saying, not
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  made up things, not things that people have chosen for their own denominational context.
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  Whatever the Bible is actually teaching, that is what we embrace. So
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  if somebody pops up in some city or country or some island of the sea
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  and has come up with a quote new understanding, it's like, well,
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  wait a minute, the scriptures have interpreted themselves. We test the profits by
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  the prophets, and so there is agreement throughout the scriptures, all of those
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  sixty six blessed books. And so if something does not jive or line up
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  with what God has already said, what do we do? We let it
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  go? We reject it. Why because we are being vigilant, we are
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  being watchful, and we're embracing only what is true. And then the Bible
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  says here in the Book of Two Timothy, chapter two and verse fifteen.
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  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be
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  ashamed. Rightly dividing the word of truth, God has given us the prescription
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  to vigilance, that is, submit to God and hold fast to his word
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  Peace. Thanks for joining us listening. Friends. Always remember we cannot live
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  by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
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  This has been your daily portion with el David Harris, make it a
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  great day. Yeah,